LWOP, The Wheel, The Letters, are all euphemisms to describe the daunting sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Our criminal justice system has handed out LWOP for almost every crime imaginable. Tough on crime have created mandatory minimum sentences giving the judges no discretion in sentencing. LWOP is so ubiquitous that the mention of this sentence no longer carries the weight it once had, at least not for society. The person who receives such a sentence in many cases is squashed under the weight of what life without the possibility of parole really means--death on an installment plan.

Imagine you are child, punished by your parents, in time-out. You can not participate in activities nor play freely. You do not have access to those things which make you happy. Imagine you are in time-out for the rest of your life. As a child, it would have killed you to be in this perpetual state. Children are being given ‘the letters’ as well.

We all want people who commit crimes to be punished but we have become so desensitize to the LWOP sentence, pushing for something stronger.  Sentences are run consecutively--looped together to ridiculous amounts of years or in all to many increasing cases, one receives death because LWOP is not sufficient. While I am not a proponent of capital punishment, I do understand the idea of it as some crimes are so heinous, death is a logical choice, but make no mistake, when a person goes to prison for LIFE, with no opportunity to ever come home, it is a punishment. It is sufficient. Living as an eternal prisoner for some is more devastating than a death sentence.  An LWOP sentence is a death sentence--death of spirit for those who have received this sentence and as long as judges are bound by mandatory minimums without taking each case on an individual basis, “the wheel” is the death of common sense.

LWOP- Life without the Possibility of Parole

The Wheel – refers to prisoners never getting out, much like running on a hamsters wheel

The Letters – refers to not being giving a set of numbers (3 to 5 years), but LIFE (letters).